


Come Home

by niPhEnd



Category: Original Work
Genre: Could be triggering, Military, Other, Read at your own discretion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24763681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niPhEnd/pseuds/niPhEnd
Summary: Annabelle, at five years old, has never experienced this kind of goodbye before.
Kudos: 1





	Come Home

Annabelle stumbled along the path after her mother. It seemed no matter how smooth this path was, she just couldn’t get her feet underneath her. It also didn’t help that she could barely see above her mother’s thigh and she had to keep dodging around people.

They were in a large area that was in some sort of closed metal roof. The area reached way beyond what she could see and was filled to the brim with people. Mommy’s and other kids just like her, some grandmas and grandpas with white hair and clothes that smelled a lot like a new car, and lots of other people running around with red, white and blue flags. Some were attached to little sticks that the other children carried, but a lot were carried around by the adults on long poles or draped across their backs.

She waved her own little flag at the thought, smiling when the small piece of fabric made a _swoosh_ sound when she waved it hard enough. Her momma had gotten it for her before they had come in. She wasn’t sure why. She actually wasn’t sure why they had come here in the first place, but she still liked it. Maybe they were going to do something fun like the carnival they went to last summer.

“Annabelle!” She looked up hearing her mother’s voice and quickly scampered over, doing a better job this time keeping her footing.

Her mother bent down when she reached her and took Annabelle’s small hand in hers. Annabelle always liked the feel of her mother’s hands. They were soft and warm and reminded her of when she would rub her hair before she fell asleep.

“You have to stay close, Annie. I don’t want to lose you.” Her mother spoke firmly, giving her hand a small squeeze.

Annabelle looked back down at her flag. “Sorry, Momma.”

Her mother sighed and led her on through the crowd. Annabelle wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew her mother seemed upset about something. She was a little worried that her mother was upset with her for wandering off. So, she stayed quiet as she walked through the area.

The people around them began to thin as they walked, and in their place rose giant planes and other planes with fans on top of them. Her father told her what those were once, but she couldn’t remember the name of them. She also saw loads of different people all dressed the same. They all wore really large boots with long laces that went all the way up, and some had really big backpacks that had all sorts of dangly stuff hanging off of them. They were all wearing the same color too. It was really light brown and lots of darker browns spotted all over. Like a cheetah! Her father had told her what this was called too. Cam-a-flaz, or cam-o-flaj. It was really hard to say. She thought it was really important to the people here though, but she still wasn’t sure why they couldn’t just wear something a little brighter. Like pink! Her favorite color was pink. Yes, pink would be good.

“There are my girls!”

Annabelle turned towards the voice and let go of her mother’s hand, going as fast as her little legs could carry her across the pavement. “Daddy!”

Her father grabbed her under her arms and lifted her high above his head. She squealed in delight and flapped her arms and legs around. For just a second, it felt like she was flying high above the ground. Like she could play in the clouds and talk with the birds.

“How’s my little Firefly?” Her father laughed as he caught her in his arms again.

“Daddy, daddy look! I lost a tooth last night!” She pulled open her lips to show the very evident gap in her teeth where there was indeed a tooth missing.

“Well, look at that!” Her father smiled, showing her his own teeth. “Did you meet the tooth fairy?”

She slumped ever so slightly in his grip and giggled. “No, Daddy! She’s too fast for that!”

“And she’s very quiet too.” Her mother came up on her father’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Did you tell Daddy what the tooth fairy gave you?”

Her father’s eyes widened slightly as he smiled. “What did the tooth fairy give you?”

She wiggled around in her father’s grip to get to the small pocket in her jacket and pulled out a small gold dollar coin for her father to see.

“I got this! Momma says it’s a really special coin and I have to save it for something really important.”

Her father took the coin from her hands and spun it around his fingers. “You’re Momma’s right, Sweetheart. This is a very special coin, and if you take real good care of it, it’ll bring you luck.”

Her father paused and she looked at him, tilting her head. He blinked a few times and looked at her mother, and she did too. It was then that she noticed her mother was crying, the tears softly streaming down her cheeks.

“Mommy?”

Annabelle reached out her hand towards her mother and her father caught it in his. He placed the coin in the center of her palm and curled her fingers around it, wrapping her hand in his large palm. She always felt safe in her father’s hands, his arms, his hugs, but today it felt different. The way he pulled her close and kissed her forehead, resting her head softly against his shoulder, made it feel like she wasn’t going to feel this safety, this warmth, for a long time.

“My firefly,” her father muttered, kissing the top of her head again.

She picked up her head off his shoulder slightly. “Daddy? What’s wrong?”

Her father sighed again, brushing a small strand of hair away from her face. “Annie, can you promise something for me?”

“Of course, Daddy. I’m really good at keeping promises.”

“I know sweetheart.” Her father smiled again, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Can you be a big girl for Daddy? And look after Mommy for me?”

Annabelle frowned at this and looked over at her mother in confusion. Why was her father asking her this? Why was he asking her to take care of Mommy? They were all going to go home soon, it was dinner time after all, and Lester would be expecting them home soon.

“But, we’re gonna go home soon. Then Daddy and Annie can look after Mommy together.” She frowned, placing her hands on her father’s chest.

She felt her father’s chest shake in a breath and he smiled at her again. “I have to go to a special place, Annie. A place very far away from here, and I’m not sure how long I have to stay there.”

Annabelle perked up. “Then Mommy and I can just go with you! And we can find a new house and bring Lester so her can run around in the yard. Then I can bring my dollies and we can have parties. It will be so fun! Daddy, please let us come, you have to-”

“Annabelle.”

Annabelle stopped and looked back up at her father. He was frowning now, he almost never frowned at her, and it made her want to curl up in his chest and not come out again. With a heavy sigh her father lifted her up and passed her over to her mother, who took her almost desperately. Annabelle watched as her father turned, picking up his large backpack and pulling the straps tight so it wouldn’t fall off.

He finally made his way back over to her mother and her. Her mother and her father stared at each other for a long time.

“No, Annie, you have to stay here,” he said, though he didn’t look at her.

Her mother reached out and took her father’s cheek in her hand. She was crying again, the tears silently streaming down her cheeks as her father stepped close and wrapped them in his arms. She kissed him briefly before pulling away.

“You may have a duty over there, but you also have a duty over here.” Her mother’s voice was strong, her eyes never leaving her father’s. “When your duty is done you come back to us. You come back to us on your own feet.”

Annabelle could feel her mother shaking and she started to sniff. She wanted to scream and cry and tell her father he had to stay with them, no matter what. She didn’t care of this place he had to go to, or the thing he was going to do there. She just wanted him to be with them, and be home.

Her father nodded, his eyes watering ever so slightly. “I promise you, the both of you.” He looked at Annie, placing a hand on her head. “I will be back, even if I have to swim.”

He leaned down to place a kiss on her head, then kiss her mother again. Annabelle took the opportunity of his closeness to grab onto the strap of his backpack.

“Daddy, don’t go.”

He smiled, gently undoing her hand from the strap. “I love you very much, Firefly. I’ll miss you, _so_ much.”

Her lip began to quiver. “Daddy, don’t go.”

Her father stepped, pausing a second to look at the two of them, her mother and her. Then he turned, heading towards another large plane.

Annabelle felt the tears stream down her face and her breath hitch as she tried to breathe in between sobs.

“Daddy, don’t go!”

She struggled in her mother’s grip, needing to get down, needing to go and run to her father. To stop him from getting on that plane and drag him home with them. Back to their house on the little hill, with the small twisty tree and the swing he would push her in.

“Daddy, wait!”

She was wailing now, struggling to get to the ground. To get to the surface. To run away. She could hear her mother’s voice in her ear but couldn’t understand the words.

“DADDY COME BACK!”

The last thing she saw before her vision grew hazy with tears, was her father waving at them on the platform of one of the planes. Her mother wrapped her arms around her, and Annabelle buried her face in her mother’s shirt. She wouldn’t realize then that her father wouldn’t be there to push her on the swing anymore. Or help her cook when her mother was tired after a long day. Or be there to pick her up from school and walk home on the old path by the stream. She wouldn’t remember just how much she cried that day, or the days to follow, as her mother walked her out of the metal building. 

The low hanging sun shined just behind the tree line creating long shadows behind them. Annabelle could only hug her mother tight as the breeze ruffled her loose shirt.

_Daddy, come home._


End file.
